Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-04-07
The Iswa Ceuutv Murder Case.


court of Iowa county ut its recent term.
for several days. an account OF which
Is given in the Dodgeville papers. On
the evening Of October Q, 1886. Bark
Fairchild. man seventy years Of age,
and an old and respected resident Of
Mineral Point, killed his wife by shoot
ing her in the head with shotgun.
Both had been married before. She
was woman of about forty. They
lived Just outside the city limits; the
family consisting If the two and a
daughter of the wife by former hus-
band, who. during the day worked at
dress making in the city. Shortly after
six o clock that night the daughter re-
turned from her work. opened the door
Of the house. and saw her mother " ing
in her blood on the floor and her step
father standing over her. saving:
Sorry. very sorry She screamed
and ran for a neighbor After going
little way from the house she heard a
pistol shot. When she returned with
help her stcpfather was not in the room
Upon search he was found in his bed
room lying upon the bed with two
pistol wounds in his forehead; one just
between the eyes and the other about
half an inch above the first. He had
used a number 22-caliber revolver and
the bullets had not penetrated the skull
lie recovered, and at the time Of the
trial the indentations made by the bull
lets, were plainly visible the length Of
the court room. A neighbor heard the
report Of the shotgun few moments
before the daughter returned. and
another neighbor going by the house
about six o'clock heard An alteration,
and heard the woman say several times,
''Will you let me aIone?" IL appeared
that as a rule. they had lived harmoni
ously together. The defendants state
ment upon the witness stand, wheL
upon the second trial upon the plea OF
not guilty, he was sworn in his own be-
half. was that be had come in 10 supper
at tn. call Of his wife announcing that
supper was ready, and that as he was
about to sit down at the table troubl,
arose about something. but about what
he said he couldn't remember, and thai
his wife knocked him down two or three
times with a stove-wocd stick, that he
got up and went out through the hall
where he saw his shot gun, that he took
il and went around the house to the
the kitchen door and fired from the open
door towards his wife, who was in the
room. with the intention, not OF hittins
her. but Of shooting over her to Brighten
her. He said that when he found he
had killed her he determined To- kill
himself and be buried in the sane grave
With her.
The plea of insanity was interposed
by Judge Cothren and Mr.. Briggs, the
defendants attorneys. They claimed
he had no, been Of sound mind since he
lost his money by the failure Of Henry's
Bank. The issue Of sanity or insanity
III the time Of the act was tried by the
jury before the trial upon the plea OF
not guilty.
The jury found the defendant sane,
and upon the subsequent trial they
found him guilty Of manslaughter in the
first degree, aud he was sentenced to
five years in the state prison.
We give below a part of Judge
Clernentson's charge to the jury upon
the question Of insanity:
What is insanity as defined by the
law? When does the law deem a per-
son unaccountable by reason Of it for
doing an act that would be crime if
done by man Of sound mindo
will presently tell you what the law
deems to be insanity; but. that you may
the better understand what l may then
say, will speak of some things that do
not come within the legal definition OF
insanity.
EccentricIty is not insanity. Excite
ment which is aroused in the mind of q
man of mental sOundness by pecuniary
losses. is not insanity. The spirit of re-
yeuge in the mind of such man against
those whom he believes TO be respon-
slble for such losses, is not insanity Ii
such man, upon prOvocation, either
~ words or blows, become possessed bv
his passion and strikes or shoots. re-
CARELESS Of consequences, the law does
not. because OF his passion, regard him
as insane and unaccountable.
All men are liable to anger. Some
Me more easily provoked TO passion
than others A man in a passion is not,
strictly speaking, in his right mind.
+, eryone who has given way to passion
said wrong word or done a wrong act.
when his passion has passed, knows he
rs, done wrong, regrets :he word or
act. and is sorry for it. But this kind
Of passion to which we are all subject,
and which is not our normal state Of
mind. does not render US irresponsible
in the eyes Of the law for what we do
while under its Influence.
The law. however, has regard for the
trailties Of human nature, and dnes not
hold the man. who, under the influence
az passion. commits crime. 10 the
same high accountability that il does
the man woo does a criminal act with
reconciliation. When \ man kills
smother with generalization. it ia muir
der; il he kills him in the heat of pas
sion. upon provocatlon. the law has al.
WAYS regarded the slayer as less &C
couutable, and guilty, not of murder.
but of manslaughter only. which is pun
ishable less severely than murder
What then is insanity As known TO
the law? ! answer, it j. diseases
disease Of the mind.
To render man uuaccuuntsble BY
reason Of insanity for doing thst which
otherwise would be q crime, he must. al
the time he did the act, have been labor.
ing under such defect Of reason, from
disease of the mind, IS not 10 know the